Ed Skrein is leaving the Hellboy reboot after an outcry over his casting.

Skrein, who is known for playing the villain in last year's Deadpool, joined the cast of the Hellboy reboot last week, and he was to play rugged military member Major Ben Daimio, who in the comic books is Asian.

"It is clear that representing this character in a culturally accurate way holds significance for people, and that to neglect this responsibility would continue a worrying tendency to obscure ethnic minority stories and voice in the Arts. I feel it is important to honour and respect that. There I have decided to step down so the role can be cast appropriately," the actor wrote in a statement. "Representation of ethnic diversity is important, especially to me as I have a mixed heritage family. It is our responsibility to make more decisions in difficult times and to give voice to inclusivity. It is my hope that one day these discussions will become less necessary and that we can help make equal representation in the Arts a reality."

Conversations about whitewashing have come to the forefront over the past year after examples such as Ghost in the Shell and Doctor Strange cast white actors as characters who were Asian in the source material, but this is the first time an actor has exited such a high-profile project in response to a public criticism. Skrein swiftly began getting praiseonline after making his announcement.

Stranger Things' David Harbour is starring in the Hellboy reboot, which is based on the the demonic hero from comic book creator Mike Mignola. Game of Thrones director Neil Marshall is helming the project. Ian McShane is playing hero’s adoptive father, while Milla Jovovich is playing a medieval sorceress who wants to destroy humanity.

Producers Larry Gordon, Lloyd Levin, Millennium and Lionsgate also released a statement Monday in support of Skrein's decision: "Ed came to us and felt very strongly about this. We fully support his unselfish decision. It was not our intent to be insensitive to issues of authenticity and ethnicity, and we will look to recast the part with an actor more consistent with the character in the source material."

When the United States and Canada get into a dispute about the location of the actual border, the Super Troopers - Mac, Thorny, Foster, Rabbit and Farva - are called in to set up a new Highway Patrol station in the contested area. Our heroes quickly revert to their own brand of unconventional police work. In theaters April 20, 2018.

A group of eccentric assassins are fed up with Gunther, the world's greatest hit-man and decide to kill him but their plan turns into a series of bungled encounters as Gunther seems to always be one step ahead. In select theaters on October 20 and VOD on September 22.

When the United States and Canada get into a dispute about the location of the actual border, the Super Troopers - Mac, Thorny, Foster, Rabbit and Farva - are called in to set up a new Highway Patrol station in the contested area. Our heroes quickly revert to their own brand of unconventional police work. In theaters April 20, 2018.

Collider is happy to exclusively premiere a Blade Runner 2049 prequel short film “in-world” piece that explains what happened in the world of Blade Runner between the first movie, set in 2019, and this sequel, set in 2049. The short film "Nexus: 2036" takes place in the year 2036 and revolves around Jared Leto’s character, Niander Wallace. In this short, directed by Luke Scott (Morgan), Wallace introduces a new line of “perfected” replicants called the Nexus 9, seeking to get the prohibition on replicants repealed. This no doubt has serious ramifications that will be crucial to the plot of Blade Runner 2049.

This “in-world” piece is one of three short films that will debut ahead of Blade Runner 2049, which will further flesh out the Blade Runner universe with even more information. In 2023, government authorities legislated an indefinite “prohibition” on replicant production, as a year prior a massive EMP detonated on the West Coast and is pinned on Replicants. So in this Wallace piece, we’ll see the beginnings of the new Replicants that are created after the prohibition is lifted.

Warner Bros and DC are starting over in their search for a director for Justice League Dark, but one of the aspirants, Gerard Johnstone, has been hired to do a polish on the script. He made an impression on the studio with his presentation, but what got him in there was his 2014 film Housebound.

The search to find a director to helm a darker version of Justice League — reportedly centering on John Constantine, Swamp Thing, Deadman, Zatanna and Etrigan the Demon — will take a bit longer, though. Doug Liman left to do Chaos Walking.

While it looked for a moment like director Andy Muschietti would be the man, everything changed when New Line’s Stephen King novel adaptation It turned in an outsized web reaction to the trailer, and from there it was clear that Muschietti and his sibling producer partner Barbara won’t be doing anything other than readying the second installment of the movie.

Amr Salama, the award-winning Egyptian director who is bringing his latest film Sheikh Jackson to Toronto next month, is developing a feature aimed squarely at one of the biggest war movies of all time.

Iraqi Sniper (working title), will tell the “other side of the story of American Sniper, the story about the villain,” Salama tells THR.

In Clint Eastwood’s 2014 box-office smash American Sniper, Bradley Cooper starred as top U.S. marksman Chris Kyle. His chief antagonist in the film was a mysterious sniper on the side of the Iraqi insurgents who went by the name of Mustafa.

“He’s the hero in my film,” says Salama, who says he was incensed into making the film when he first saw American Sniper. “I hated it. That was my inspiration — I hated it so much that I wanted to work on a different version of that story.”

There was indeed a real-life top sniper fighting for the Iraqis, given the nickname Juba, whose exploits — thought by some to be hundreds of kills — were touted in a number of videos released between 2005 and 2007. There were rumors that he had even been an Olympic athlete at one point.

“But I’m trying to make an anti-war film,” says Salama. “Whereas American Sniper was pro-war.”

And to make his project — which is currently in the script stage — Salama is working with two of the region’s biggest names. Prolific Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy, with whom Salama collaborated on both Sheikh Jackson and his 2014 hit Excuse My French, is producing, alongside Hany Abu-Assad, the Palestinian director who earned Oscar nominations for both Paradise Now and Omar (and has the Kate Winslet and Idris Elba-starring Mountain Between Us bowing at TIFF), and Abu-Assad’s wife, Amira Diab.

“This story merits to be told even if American Sniper hadn’t come out,” Hefzy tells THR. “He’s a very interesting character, a complex character. Amr did a lot of research and we’re trying to get his evolution right.” Hefzy added that he thought the film would have “international appeal.”

While Iraqi Sniper is still in the early stages of development (although Salama says he hopes it is the next project of his that goes into production), the filmmaker looks like he’s already lined up someone already well versed in the central role. "The same actor who played the sniper in American Sniper — Sammy Sheik (Tyrant, Homeland, Sand Castle) — is attached to my film."

When scientists discover how to shrink humans to five inches tall as a solution to over-population, Paul (Matt Damon) and his wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig) decide to abandon their stressed lives in order to get small and move to a new downsized community — a choice that triggers life-changing adventures. In theaters December 22.

A former boxer named Bradley (Vince Vaughn) loses his job as an auto mechanic, and his troubled marriage is about to end. At this crossroads in his life, he feels that he has no better option than to work for an old buddy as a drug courier. This improves his situation until the terrible day that he finds himself in a gunfight between a group of police officers and his own ruthless allies. When the smoke clears, Bradley is badly hurt and thrown in prison, where his enemies force him to commit acts of violence that turn the place into a savage battleground. In theaters October 6 and On Demand October 13.

Penelope Mitchell has joined the Neil Marshall-directed reboot Hellboy: Rise Of The Blood Queen from Lionsgate and Millennium Films. The film was written by Andrew Cosby, Christopher Golden, Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, and Aron Coleite.

David Harbour stars as Hellboy who, along with his team of paranormal researchers, try to save the world from a medieval sorceress who wants to destroy humankind. Mitchell will play the role of Ganeida, an elder witch who has decided that Nimue’s wrath has gone on for too long and must be stopped.

The announcement of Mitchell’s casting comes shortly after actor Ed Skrein, who was initially cast in the movie as a Japanese character, made headlines for exiting the project following criticism of whitewashing.

Mitchell is known for her work in the films The Fear of Darkness and The Waiting Game, as well as the TV series Hemlock Grove and The Vampire Diaries. Mitchel was recently cast in Between Worlds opposite Nicolas Cage and previously appeared in producer Darren Aronofsky’s Zipper and the Blumhouse film Curve.

With an onscreen partnership that began back in 1992 with Bram Stoker's Dracula from Francis Ford Coppola and continued with Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly in 2006, Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder are pairing up once more.

Comedy Destination Wedding, to be directed by Victor Levin (5 to 7) from his own script, tells the story of two miserable and unpleasant wedding guests, both pariahs at this affair, who develop a mutual affection despite themselves. But to act on those feelings would be to trust hope over experience, a foolish choice indeed.

I would not have expected such casting, despite Bale's penchant for losing and gaining weight for his roles. I wouldn't have expected whom they got for Bush, either, but it fits pretty well, all things considered:

I would not have expected such casting, despite Bale's penchant for losing and gaining weight for his roles. I wouldn't have expected whom they got for Bush, either, but it fits pretty well, all things considered:

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I can also see Rockwell as Bush, especially if he adds a bit more weight.

Rockwell is in final negotiations to add his name to the call sheet that already includes Steve Carell, Amy Adams and Bill Pullman for the drama from Annapurna.

Bale is portraying the titular character in a story that chronicles Cheney avoiding military service in the Vietnam War, his rise to CEO of the multinational corporation Halliburton and finally becoming what some have called the most powerful U.S. vice president ever to hold office.

Carell has been cast as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, while Adams is playing Cheney’s wife, Lynne.

Rockwell will play Cheney’s boss, President George W. Bush, who steered the nation through the attacks of 9/11, the events that allowed Cheney to exercise his power when it came to fighting terrorism.

The project is aiming for a production start in September.

Producing are McKay and his Gary Sanchez Productions partners Will Ferrell and Kevin Messick. Brad Pitt and Dede Garner are also producing via their Plan B label.

Rockwell is gearing up for the Venice Film Festival premiere of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, the new comedic thriller from Martin McDonagh that also stars Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson.

The actor recently wrapped shooting the Western drama Woman Walks Ahead with Jessica Chastain and is currently shooting the true-life period race drama The Best of Enemies with Taraji P. Henson.